Ney Pathiri / Deep Fried Rice Roti or Bread

It had been about 10 years since I saw a perfectly prepared neypathiri.. Though I happened to watch the whole preparation, I didn't get the proper recipe.. Recently a nice friend, from Malabar side, who owns a blog left a comment in my blog with the neypathiri recipe. My interest in trying out Malabar recipes prompted her to do it. That was I searching, a proper recipe from a Kannur / Thalassery home.. Thanks to Shab! You must visit her if you love to try out Malabar dishes. And there are lots of other types of yummy dishes too in her kitchen.
About the neypathiri, like the name indicates the pathiri is deep fried in oil.(Ney means oil here, no need to fry in ghee) When I made it, I finished the first two, my father was there, he also took three, and he didn't need his lunch because of it.. :)It tastes great with chicken or other meat curries.Shabs has a list of her favourite curries to take with. I served chicken kurma with it..
While making this, I din't add rice powder as Shabs said, since I hadn't un roasted rice powder at that time. So I just ground the soaked rice with very less water and poured it to a very clean nice cotton cloth. Then tied the edges of cloth together and hanged it on the sink-tap as my Kannur neighbour did.But mom suggested to take it and place on a cutting board and keep a water filled bowl on it. It worked and soon the water oozed out from the ground paste.After you open the cloth, you get a very nice dough witch never sticks to your fingers!
This is a must try for you all those who love some tasty dish. Forget the deep frying part for at least once.. :)
While I was preparing this post, I got a message from from Mrs.Mano, that she happened to eat fried pathiris from a resturarant, she loved it much and asked for the recipe! :)



Ingredients for making ney pathiri,
1 cup puzhukkalari/ parboiled rice or raw rice / pachari or a mixture of both
1 medium onion or small onions
1 1/2 tsp perumjeerakam
1 cup fresh coconut
salt,water and rice powder



How to prepare,
Soak rice.
Grind it along with as little water as possible into grainy paste.
(Don't make a very fine paste.)
Finally add fennel seeds,coconut, onion and grind until onion and fennel is crushed well.
Add salt and Mix enough rice powder to make a dough like pathiri.
Make lemon size balls and place it on palm.
Press it slowly to make small pathiris not bigger than puris in size.
Pathiris should not be too thin.
It should have a thickness of 2 or 3 puris.
Deep fry them in very hot oil.
Allow to fry both sides by turning occasionally.
Fry until golden brown.
If your dough is correct, your neipathiris may puff up like puris!
Njoy!

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Athisayappathiri / Athrippa pathiri

Want to surprise your family? Then make this.. :) Athisayam means surprise. So making this may be a surprise in the families of Malabar side. Some call this Athrippa pathiri, which means this really needs much care and attention while preparing and makes in special occasions.
Am not hailing from Malabar, so if I have made any mistakes, those who come from Kozhikkodu and Kannur side, please tell me...I tried making this using the old magazine recipes and was worth. It was a heavy meal which was so delicious but not simple.. :)
I hope the recipe is not giving a heart ache to those who have cholesterol threat seeing the number of eggs, you have another chance when I come with muttamala (egg garland ? ) recipe .. :)



Athisayappathiri / Athrippa pathiri
Chicken 1/2 kg
eggs 6
maida 1 cup
coconut milk 1 cup
onion 3 medium
ginger 1 inch piece
garlic 4 small cloves
green chillies 3 or 4
pepper powder 1/2 tsp
turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
fennel seeds powder 1 pinch
garam masala powder 1/4 tsp
coriander leaves chopped 1/4 cup
oil
ghee
salt

Grind,
garlic and ginger together.

Cook,
chicken with turmeric and salt. Cool down. Remove fleshy part from the bone.Make it very small pieces or use minced meat.

For making dosa / pola,
Mix maida with 1 egg, coconut milk and salt. Add enough water to make dosa like batter.
Heat griddle and grease it and make 7 or 8 dosas.

For making a batter of eggs,
Break remaining 5 eggs and mix it with crushed green chillies (as per taste) and enough salt. Keep this batter aside.

For making meat masala,
Heat oil in a pan, put fennel seeds powder. Saute chopped onions until transparent. Add garlic and ginger paste.Saute them for a while. Then add
chopped green chillies , coriander leaves , garam masala, pepper powder ,cooked chicken and enough salt. Mix them well by stirring continuously for few seconds.
Remove from fire and keep aside.
Take another heavy bottomed vessel(non-stick is good). Apply little ghee in the bottom and sides.
Take one dosa and dip it in the egg batter.
Place this dosa in the greased vessel. Spread little of the above prepared masala over it.
Again, dip one dosa in the egg batter, place it over the first dosa topped with masala mixture.
Then put the masala over it again, as we did for the first one.
Continue this until the dosas and masalas are over.
After placing the last dosa on top, pour the remaining egg batter over it. So it will spread it self in the sides of pan covering the previously placed dosas.
Cover and cook this on a low flame until done. This takes about 10 more minutes only.



Second method,
Mix maida with eggs (use 4 eggs) , salt and enough water. Make 7 or 8 dosas with it. Keep the remaining batter aside.
In this preparation, no need to make egg batter separately.
Place one dosa in the greased vessel, put the masala mixture over it.
Then place another dosa over it, top it with masla mixture.Continue this procedure until all dosas and masala mixture is finished.
After placing the last dosa, pour the remaining dosa batter over this. Then cover and cook on a low flame until done.
I tried the first method, but the second method seems little much easier than the first.



Thanks to Roopa for giving the "you make my day" award and Madhavi for giving the "nice matters" award to me, you all are really very nice...!

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Kunjippathiri / Kozhi Pidi / Steamed Rice Dumplings In Meat Gravy

Pidi / Kunji pathiri are small rice balls that steamed and cooked in the tasty meat, fish or vegetable curry. This is really a delightful dish to take as dinner or evening snack. Pidi has an important role in Malabar cooking since it is their one of the main dishes served for the guests. People from Malabar are well known for their hospitality(ie.salkkaaram). I had few neighbors from Kannur (Cannanore) and Thalassery (Tellichery) side. Every evening , they would bring some delicious snacks for us. I started expecting them knocking my door every day, after a few days I joined with them .. :D
Some times (most of the days) , they shared whatever they cooked for lunch and dinner too, and made me even to think stop cooking.. :) If it is Ramadan month, they prepared various dishes for each day, and dished out to all the neighbors! I felt bad some times, since a person hailing from Central Kerala, our dishes are totally different from theirs, and with a baby (my D was only 1 year old at that time) I couldn't reciprocate the same way they do. But it was also a boon for me, I could learn a little of their cooking methods..
When you make Pidis, make it smaller than this. I have made it little bigger than the original pidis, since I couldn't spend much time for preparing this...


Pidi in mutton gravy..

Kozhippidi/Kunji pathiri Ingredients
Chicken 1/2 kg boneless
onions 3
tomato 2
green chillies 2
garlic paste 1 tsp
ginger paste 1 tsp
garammasla 1 tsp
pepper powder 1 tsp
chilli powder 1 tsp
coriander powder 2 tsp
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
coriander leaves few
coconut milk 1 cup thick
shallots / chuvannulli 5
coconutoil
salt

For making pidi
rice powder 2 cups
water 1 cup
small onions 4
cumin seeds 1/4 tsp
fennel seed 1/2 tsp
salt



Method
Make a paste of small onions , cumin seeds and fennel seeds together.
Boil water. Add salt. Pour this to the rice powder and mix well . Add the above paste and knead it to make a dough.
Apply little oil on palms, make small balls from this and press to make like very small pathiris. Steam them for 5 minutes using an Idli vessel or some thing like that.
Keep aside.
Clean and cut chicken into small pieces. Mix it with chopped onion,tomato,green chilly crushed,garlic and ginger paste and all the powders and salt. Add little water enough to cook. When it is half cooked add coconut milk and the prepared pidis to it. Cook on a low flame until the chicken is cooked and the gravy is thick. The pidis should be covered with the masalas.Mix with chopped coriander leaves.
Heat coconut oil, roast chopped small onion and pour this to the preparation.

There are some other methods too for making this.The methods varies for different regions. A fried of mine suggested to make like we do for pathiris.(See the procedure for making pathiris here) So in that way we should add rice powder to boiling water with the other ingredients. Make dough like we do for pathiris and make small pidis as I described before. This method is much better since the flour is already cooked in the boiled water, so you can add the pidis directly to the curry with out steaming them. Boil them for a while with curry.

Some makes this by grinding rice, especially people from Kannur District. I really appreciate their enthusiasm for making good , wondrously tasted dishes, but for me everything seemed little lengthy. I hate standing in the kitchen for long, and finishes cooking soon with the already available ingredients only.. :) So if you are interested to follow the proper Malabar recipe for making pidis I will try to mail it for you, Insha Allah..

Update-Vegetarians can use potato and cauliflower instead of chicken.

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Kaipathiri

The name Kaipathiri is because this roti is prepared by hand(Kai).

Ingredients
Rice powder 1 glass
Water 1 glass
Small onion 3 chopped
Coconut grated ½ cup
Cumin seeds ½ tsp
Salt



How to prepare
Boil water with salt, coconut, chopped small onions and cumin seeds. When boils, reduce the flame, slowly put the rice powder into this and stir. Stir well for few seconds. Remove from fire, pour the contents into a saucer. Make dough by kneading it well.

Make balls of big size. Take a banana leaf and place the ball on it. Press with palm(with all fingers) then turn. Repeat this till the pathiri gets enough size. Then place it on a hot griddle / tawa and cook them turning occasionally. Unlike nice pathiris , this might have brown spots and marks, this is thick and tastes good even without curries. When one pathiri is done, soon dip it in coconut milk and transfer into another plate.

See the instructions for making pathiri.

Read about the origin of the word" pathiri".

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Kerala Pathiri and Kozhi Curry - Step by step recipe

Pathiri/Thin rice roti with Chicken Curry in coconut milk

Pathiri is one of the specialities of Kerala Muslim Cuisine.It is usually serverd on special occasions and in Ramadan with meat curry.When there is a special occasion at home, ladies among the relatives and neighbours present, gather in the kitchen to make pathiri. Some kneads the dough, some makes balls, some rolls and some bakes it. There would be a pile of pathiris as the result of their group work! I usually use home made rice powder to make pathiri. When the stock is over, I buy from out side. Nirapara, Mohanlal taste buds,Double horse etc are the brands that I usually buy.

There are many types of Pathiris, in Muslim Cuisine. Neipathiri, meen pathiri, erachi pathiri, Kaipathiri, kattipathiri , poricha pathiri etc. And this thin pathiri is the most easiest among them. The method of preparation is different for the Muslims in the Thalasseri, Kannur region of Kerala.

Ingredients for making pathiri
Rice powder roasted 1 glass
Water 1 glass
Salt

Rice powder for Pathiri

Boil water. Add enough salt.Slowly add rice powder, stirring continuously.

Switch off the stove, pour the contents into a big saucer. Then let it reach a warm condition. You have to knead when it is warm.

Then you can knead it and make dough. You have to knead it very well using both hands. A well kneaded dough makes the pathiris soft and helps to puff up.Don’t add water or powder again. If needed,wet hands. Some people apply a little coconut oil on palms to avoid the flour sticking.When the water content in the dough is little more, than prescribed it sticks to hands while kneading.

Take pieces from this dough, as we do for chappathis. Make ball, press it between palms.

Dust the board using the same rice powder used for making pathiri dough.

Roll the flattened balls on a wooden board using the chappathi roller (or using a chappathi press.) until you get thin round pathiris.

Cut the edges using a round cutter or a lid.You can make it without cutting also. Again use the remaining parts ( that is the parts we got after cutting ) for making dough and pathiris in the end.Just knead it and make dough with wet hands.

Place tawa/griddle/non stick pan on a medium flame. Low flame and extra high flame will not make pathiris good. When the tawa is hot, place the pathiri on it. You can see the steam passes through it within few seconds. Note, it takes only few seconds. Don’t wait for long. Soon turn the pathiri. This time wait a little long, till the ends of pathiri is little crispy or cooked. But be careful, the pathiri shouldn’t be brown.

Then turn again, soon you can see the pathiri puffs up. Remove from the pan. Though we cook on a medium high heat, pathiris should remain white, no color change or brown spots!

Pathiri with egg curry, spicy red fish curry and coconut milk

Have with coconut milk and Chicken curry or mutton curry. Take them also with beef curry, fish curry , egg curry or green peas curry.

For Coconut milk, take one cup grated coconut and two small onions. Peel the onions, put them with coconut,enough water and blend. Strain the thick coconut milk and add little salt.

Pour two table spoons of coconut milk on pathiris or just dip in coconut milk and keep in another plate before serving pathiris.

Naadan Kozhikkary / Chicken Curry in coconut milk

Less spicy Chicken Curry

Ingredients
Chicken ½ kg
Tomatoes 2 small
Onions 3 medium
Green chilly 1 or 2
Turmeric powder ¼ tea spoon
Coriander powder 4 tea spoons
Pepper corns 1 teaspoon
Garlic cloves 7
Ginger 1 inch piece
Curry leaves few
Coconut milk 1cup thick
Garam masala 1 tea spoon
Small onions 5
Coconut oil 1 table spoon

How to prepare
Wash and clean chicken.

Marinate this with ¼ tea spoon turmeric powder,1/2 teaspoon chilly powder and salt.

Keep one hour in fridge.
Chop onions(very thin) and tomatoes (big pieces).

Grind garlic, ginger and black pepper corns together.

If your garam masala doesn’t contain fennel seeds, add a pinch to grind.

Mix all the powders, ground paste , chopped onions and tomatoes with chicken.

Add enough salt and one cup water.

When it begins to boil allow it to cook on a low flame.

When the chicken is completely cooked add coconut milk and boil.

Remove from fire and mix with few curry leaves and slit green chillies.
Chop small onions.

Heat coconut oil , fry these onions.

Frying few curry leaves also will add taste.

When oinions turn brown add this into the curry.

Cover.

Usually this curry is served with pathiri.

Curries for Pathiri
Fish Curry
Chicken Curry
Mutton Curry
Egg Curry
Green Peas Curry

Read here more about pathiri.

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